The 2019–20 Croatian First Football League (also known as 1. HNL; officially styled Hrvatski Telekom Prva liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 29th season of the Croatian First Football League, the national championship for men's association football teams in Croatia, since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 19 July 2019. It was temporarily postponed from 12 March to 5 June 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The league was contested by ten teams.
Teams On 23 April 2019, Croatian Football Federation announced that the first stage of licensing procedure for 2019–20 season was complete. For the 2019–20 Prva HNL, only nine clubs were issued a top level license: Dinamo Zagreb, Gorica, Hajduk Split, Inter Zaprešić, Istra 1961, Osijek, Rijeka, Slaven Belupo and Varaždin. All of these clubs except Varaždin, who were newly promoted to the Prva HNL as champions of the 2018–19 Croatian Second Football League, were also issued a license for participating in UEFA competitions. In the second stage of licensing, clubs that were not licensed in the first stage could appeal on the decision.
Stadia and locations
Dinamo Zagreb Gorica Hajduk Split Inter Zaprešić Stadion Maksimir Gradski stadion Velika Gorica Stadion Poljud Stadion Ivan Laljak-Ivić Capacity: 35,123 Capacity: 5,000 Capacity: 34,198 Capacity: 5,228 Istra 1961 Lokomotiva Stadion Aldo Drosina Stadion Kranjčevićeva Capacity: 9,800 Capacity: 5,350 Osijek Rijeka Slaven Belupo Varaždin Stadion Gradski vrt Stadion Rujevica Stadion Ivan Kušek-Apaš Stadion Varteks Capacity: 17,061 Capacity: 8,279 Capacity: 3,205 Capacity: 8,850
TeamCityStadiumCapacityRef. Dinamo Zagreb Zagreb Maksimir 35,423 Gorica Velika Gorica Gradski stadion Velika Gorica 5,000 Hajduk Split Split Poljud 34,198 Inter Zaprešić Zaprešić Stadion ŠRC Zaprešić 5,228 Istra 1961 Pula Stadion Aldo Drosina 9,800 Lokomotiva Zagreb Kranjčevićeva1 5,350 Osijek Osijek Gradski vrt 17,061 Rijeka Rijeka Rujevica 8,279 Slaven Belupo Koprivnica Stadion Ivan Kušek-Apaš 3,205 Varaždin Varaždin Stadion Varteks 8,850 1 Lokomotiva hosted their home matches at Stadion Kranjčevićeva. The stadium was originally the home ground of third-level side NK Zagreb.
Rank Counties of Croatia Number of teams Club(s)1 City of Zagreb2Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva2 Zagreb County2Gorica, Inter Zaprešić3 Istria1Istra 1961 Koprivnica-KriževciSlaven Belupo Osijek-BaranjaOsijek Primorje-Gorski KotarRijeka Split-DalmatiaHajduk Split VaraždinVaraždin
Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Sponsors Dinamo Zagreb AdidasLana grupa Gorica Alpas - Hajduk Split Macron Tommy Inter Zaprešić Joma - Istra 1961 Kelme Croatia Osiguranje Lokomotiva Adidas - Osijek Nike DOBRO Rijeka Joma Sava Osiguranje Slaven Belupo Adidas Belupo Varaždin Legea TOKIĆ
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Position in table Istra 1961 Sacked Pre-season Varaždin Contract expired Pre-season Hajduk Split Sacked Pre-season Osijek Sacked 4th Rijeka Resigned 3rd Slaven Belupo Removed from position 8th Varaždin Sacked 10th Hajduk Split Mutual consent 2nd Inter Zaprešić Sacked 8th Varaždin Sacked 10th Gorica Sacked 6th Inter Zaprešić Sacked 9th Dinamo Zagreb Sacked 1st Dinamo Zagreb Sacked 1st
League table
Results Each team played home-and-away against every other team in the league twice, for a total of 36 matches each played.
Relegation play-offs At the end of the season, Istra 1961 contested a two-legged relegation play-off tie against Orijent 1919, the third-placed team of the 2019–20 Croatian Second Football League, since runners-up Croatia Zmijavci failed to apply for a top level license.
First leg
Second leg
Istra 1961 won 3–1 on aggregate.
Statistics Top goalscorers RankPlayerClubGoalsPrvaHNL.hrSofaScore1 Antonio ČolakRijeka20 Mijo CaktašHajduk Split Mirko MarićOsijek4 Kristijan LovrićGorica145 Mislav OršićDinamo Zagreb136 Ivan KrstanovićSlaven Belupo127 Emem EduokHajduk Split11 Lirim KastratiLokomotiva Marko TolićLokomotiva10 Damian KądziorDinamo Zagreb10
Awards Annual awards AwardWinnerClubPlayer of the Season Bruno PetkovićDinamo ZagrebManager of the Season Nenad BjelicaDinamo ZagrebYoung Player of the Season Luka IvanušecDinamo Zagreb Team of the YearGoalkeeper Dominik Livaković (Dinamo Zagreb)Defence Igor Silva (Osijek) Mile Škorić (Osijek) Denis Kolinger (Lokomotiva)Midfield Petar Bočkaj (Osijek) Nikola Moro (Dinamo Zagreb) Mijo Caktaš (Hajduk) Arijan Ademi (Dinamo Zagreb) Lirim Kastrati (Lokomotiva)Attack Bruno Petković (Dinamo Zagreb) Mirko Marić (Osijek)
References
External links Official website Prva HNL at UEFA.com